Monographs

"The Essential Guide to English Wine" by Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW

We are very pleased to announce our latest monograph focussing on the exciting and dynamic English wine scene, by award winning writers Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW.

As Susie and Peter conclude their introduction….“What you have in your hands is a snapshot of a fast-moving young industry. As a result, we have tried to retain a sense of the broader perspective as well as the fine detail. Our aim is to pique your curiosity, bring key information to your attention and invite you to explore. Above all we encourage you, as the late Geoff Bowen of Pebblebed Vineyards put it, “To drink the view”. It is a most magnificent vista.”

A handy, almost pocket-sized monograph, paperback, 72 pages covering Setting the Scene, Key Producers (A-Z of 38 leading wineries), Other Notable Producers plus an Experience English Wine section providing details of the latest winery experiences, tours and much more.

Copies are available direct from the IWFS office in London at £6.99 per copy (add £1 for UK p&p, please contact us if overseas). To order copies, please contact Andrea Warren on email: sec@iwfs.org. Click here to download an order form. For trade enquiries please email sec@iwfs.org.

Previous Monographs published by the IWFS

Sonoma County a guide to its regions, wines and foods" by Tina Caputo (2017), No.18*

Around the World with Olive Oil, A look at quality, styles and flavour characteristics, by Judy Ridgway (2016), No.17*

If you would like to order a copy (£5.00 +p&p) of any of our previous publications (almost pocket sized) pease click here to download an order form and return it to our International Secretariat in London on email: click here or via fax:+44 (0)20 7827 5733 and we will despatch your order. For further assistance, or a list of other titles in the series, please call us on +44 (0)20 7827 5732.

Copies of the monographs are available on the website for members. These are free for members to download and read at their leisure. To view those which are currently available please visit the members only section of the website under Secretariat / For Members / Monographs for Members.

Reviews and/or summaries for some of our monographs are below:

November 2014

"Reflections through a Wine Glass, some contemporary issues explored" by Bob Campbell MW

This monograph comprises eight short essays on a variety of wine topics – designed to be a light read that can be dipped in and out of in a busy schedule. One major change is that this edition is in full colour to hopefully entice more people to open up and read. Bob has chosen modern issues that he has encountered during his esteemed career and through his own personal enjoyment of wine - providing, we trust, an interesting, entertaining and informed insight into each.

Readers are taken stage by stage from the vine to the glass, what makes a good wine, looking at other ways to enhance the enjoyment of wine and finally ways to develop the interest further covering topics such as the dilemmas you face when keeping a cellar, experiences of being a wine judge and then embarking on the Master of Wine course….

This is the 15th in the series and is the first to be published in full colour.

The IWFS published, in September 2012, its 14th Monograph entitled “An Appreciation of the Age of Wine”, authored by Sid Cross of our Vancouver Branch, current IWFS Honorary President and past Chairman of your Wines Committee (which is responsible for the Vintage Chart and Membership card). In this treatise Sid takes us on an incredible journey of exceptional wine tasting experiences over the period 1970 to 1990 which the vast majority of us can only dream of. Many of the wines described are legendary and Sid’s thoughts reflect the true beauty of a wine that has been allowed to gracefully age. Sid’s experiences are complimented by articles by John Salvi M.W. who deals with the technical aspects of aging wine and by Clive Coates M.W. who provides his views on how fine wines have changed since 1980. The Preface was written by Michael Broadbent M.W. past President of our Society after reading this monograph and who you will find was one of Sid’s tasting partners on a number of occasions. This Monograph and accompanying articles makes for a most enjoyable and educational reading experience.

Hon Alec T MurrayImmediate past-Chairman

Review of ‘An Appreciation of the Age of Wine’ by Steven Spurrier

An Appreciation of the Age of Wine, issued by the International Wine & Food Society in September 2012, with contributions by four authors, is a delightful and valuable contribution to wine literature from all points of view, not the least being its dedication in memory of John Avery, one of the greats of the wine trade and much missed by all of us.

Michael Broadbent opens up with a “fatherly” preface, leading us into the excellent technical piece on red wine making by John Salvi, who has seen everything in his now six decades in and around Bordeaux, who concludes that “making great wine that can age with grace and beauty is an art, and drinking it one of the great pleasures of civilized society”. This truism must not get lost, however much wine has changed once it entered the “modern” period in 1982.

Clive Coates covers these changes, not all of which he favours, fearing that “today’s wines will not last as successfully as the wines I was brought up on.” Only time will tell.

Then, across 45 closely noted pages, Sid Cross recalls the famous tastings he attended over the past forty years. He must be the best-introduced and most-travelled member the IW&FS has in its world-wide following. I have been in the wine trade since 1964 and have seldom been to such prestigious events and to have them so well-recorded here is rather like, for me, looking through old copies of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar, and remarking how so much more beautiful the women were in those days, how so much more elegant the men. Why can’t we be like that today? We can’t, because we are in the present and they, like the events and the wines that Sid Cross describes so euphorically are in the past, a past that is well worth reading about. Steven Spurrier

Steven Spurrier (born 1941) is a British wine expert and former merchant in Paris, France, who has been described as a champion of French wine. Spurrier organized the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which promoted the expansion of wine production in the new world. He is also the founder of the Academie du Vin and Christie's Wine Course, in addition to authoring and co-authoring several wine books.